Practice Tips: Inspiration and Reminders to help you become a Great Speaker

Friday, August 6, 2010

Maya Angelou
UNFORGETTABLE YOU

Poet Maya Angelou was quoted as saying, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

How DO you make your audiences feel?  They came to be transformed.  They want to leave different and better than when they arrived.  How do you make that emotional connection for them?

What anger, despair, joy, enthusiasm, pleasure, sadness are an integral part of your stories?  When you are preparing your presentation, identify the feelings inherent in your material.  Once you know where these are be sure to give them plenty of space. 

Rather than bulldozing through those moments, STOP when you come to the point of emotion.  Take a deep breath from low in your belly and FEEL the emotion. Pause. Then take another breath and with this new energy go on.  By taking your time through the emotional moments, your audience will be able to experience their own feelings in response, and this will give them that precious sense of something really important happening. 

They will not forget how you made them feel and these feelings are the vehicle for your message, affecting them deeply and making it stick.

If you would like to practice these moves, developing comfort, confidence and proficiency as a presenter, check out the workshop schedule for August 27th and 28th  HERE